Ships and other vehicles rely on various technologies for safe navigation. Ship crews may employ an electronic chart, such as an electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS), and global positioning system (GPS) to provide a dynamic, real-time visualization of the geographical features of the surrounding environment and the precise position of the ship within that environment. The crews may regularly cross-check the positioning of the ship as indicated on the ECDIS with the actual view from the bridge to ensure that the landmarks shown on the ECDIS correspond with what is actually seen from the ship.
This process is impeded at night since land and other objects plotted on the ECDIS are not easily seen. Accordingly, the ship crews are more reliant on GPS and the ECDIS for safe navigation during nighttime operations. While technology continues to improve in reliability, positioning errors may still be introduced due to equipment failures or calibration errors, among other reasons. To visually verify the position of a ship at nighttime, a crew member must manually locate landmarks or objects on the electronic chart that have a light or beacon, determine where that light should be with respect to the plotted ship position, look out from the ship in the direction in which the light is plotted on the chart with respect to the plotted ship position to visually confirm that a light exists, and repeat this process with one or more other lights from other objects to ensure that the lights seen from the ship are the correct lights associated with the objects on the electronic chart. This process is cumbersome, time consuming, and susceptible to human error.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.